Early Morning Howls
by RantoJax
Summary: There it was again, the howling that sent shivers down their spines, it was unnervingly human sounding but then again the Titans had never heard a human make a sound like this. Someone's after Raven and it's up to the Titans and Co. to find out who...
1. Chapter 1

Any one who thinks they've read this before, you probably have. This is my 3rd time editing and reposting this. I'm too much of a perfectionist.

I'd like to thank **MGD** who was Beta for the first 2 chapters.

**DISCLAIMER****:** All characters belong to DC comics.

Early Morning Howls

There it was again- a horrific howling that sent shivers down their spines. It was human sounding in an unnerving way, even though, the Titans had never heard a human make a sound like this. However, the sound wasn't made by just any human. This howl came from the young changeling standing in the early light of dawn. A limp figure lay in his arms covered by a torn cloak. One pale arm hung lamely almost scraping across the tall grass, which glistened moist with early morning dew. Nightwing, Starfire, and Cyborg closed in around Beast Boy as he collapsed to his knees.

Beast Boy looked up into the faces of the three remaining Titans. The anguish was evident on his face. He removed the cloak to reveal a girl about the same age as him. Her hair was a deep royal purple, and her skin was ghastly pale. The Titans simply looked on in horror as they drew closer. Beast Boy's howls became sobs as he held the frail figure of Raven in his arms tightly, afraid to let her go fearing the worst.

Starfire turned and cried into the shoulder of Nightwing, who remained still, shocked by Raven's appearance. Realizing that Starfire was burrowing her head into his shoulder, he wrapped an arm around her.

"Raven," whispered Cyborg with an ounce of hope that her appearance looked worse than it actually was.

"No, this isn't right. It shouldn't have happened." Nightwing said under his breath. "What happened to her?" Nightwing asked looking over her body, assessing the wounds that she had sustained in a battle that she had undoubtedly lost.

Despite her usual nature pallor, they all saw that Raven was entirely too pale. The amount of blood soaking through her cloak was alarming.

Disturbing the quiet sorrow, a device on Cyborg's arm started to beep. He looked at it and did a double take realizing what it meant. The distraught look on his face turned into a solemn smile.

"She's alive," he spoke softly. The other three looked at him with tear-stained faces.

"What?" Nightwing said meekly as his voice quivered with emotion.

"She's alive! There's a faint heartbeat and very little brain activity, but she is definitely alive!" he exclaimed. With that, he pressed several buttons.

A moment later, they heard the faint hum of the T-car racing over the hills towards them. Before the car completely stopped, all the doors flung open. Quickly, everyone clambered into the vehicle. Beast Boy sat in the middle with Raven on his lap. Starfire was on his left with Nightwing on the right. Nightwing leaned over the seat to get blankets from the trunk to cover Raven's battered, half-naked body.

"We need to get back to the tower now! She's already lost too much blood, and isn't breathing properly!" shouted Cyborg reading off the scanners on his arm, "Star, use her cloak as a compress to slow down the bleeding. BB, keep her head tilted back so she can breathe better."

"Cy, we need to call the Doc. This is more than you and I can handle," said Nightwing pulling out his communicator.

"Call Dr. Mid-Nite and tell him to get to the Tower. A.S.A.P." Cyborg replied not taking his eyes off the road.

"Oracle! It's Nightwing. Contact Dr. Mid-Nite. It's urgent! Tell him to get to Titans Tower immediately. Raven was attacked. It's really bad. I'm afraid that she could die without the right help. Thanks Ba- Oracle." Nightwing hung up and focused on Raven.

Cyborg greatly exceeded the speed limit using the nitrous-powered engines to go as fast as possible. They reached the tower in less than ten minutes. Starfire carried Raven flying as fast as she could through the multitude of winding stairs and corridors to the infirmary. Gently, she placed Raven down on a bed. Starfire continued to apply pressure to the visable wounds while she waited for the boys to get there. Beast Boy arrived first in the form of a cheetah followed by Nightwing and Cyborg.

Cyborg ran to the medical fridge pulling out a bag of blood with RAVEN on the label. Then, he headed to the cupboard next to Raven's bed. He pulled out tubes and needles and hooked up to her right arm to replace the blood that she had lost. Next, he slipped a tube down her throat, so she could breathe. Finally, he placed an EKG clip on to her left index finger, which brought the monitor on the side of the bed to life. It showed a faint heart beat at about 20 beats a minute-faint but consistent. At last, Cyborg set up the surgical sheets and operation instruments.

"BB and Star, we need you two to wait outside while we work on Raven. It could take quite awhile," Cyborg quietly said, as he started to cut away the bloody and tattered unitard that still clung to her body. Seeing that both were about to protest, he said softly, "I don't want you to see Raven like this."

"Heads up, Titans. Dr. Mid-Nite is teleporting in," said a computerized voice over the P.A system in the Tower.

"Who's that?" asked Beast Boy looking at Starfire. She just shrugged and motioned for him to follow her out the room.

"Thanks, Oracle," replied Nightwing giving a quick smile to one of the cameras around the room knowing Oracle was watching.

A brilliant flash of light lit up the center of the room. Standing next to Dr. Mid-Nite, an elderly lady exclaimed, "Oh my lord! Never again, Oracle!"

"Leslie? What are you?" Nightwing started to mumble.

"Oracle rang me saying that you needed immediate medical assistance," she answered his unfinished question, "Hello, I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Dr. Thompkins, but please, call me Leslie."

"I am Dr. Mid-Nite, Pieter. Perhaps we should leave the formal introductions until after the patient is away from death's doorway," replied the JSA Doctor looking over Raven's vitals.

"Quite right," Leslie concurred preparing for the long surgery ahead.

"Let's see what we're dealing with here," said Leslie as she lifted a blanket to reveal Raven's naked, war-torn body. They shuttered in horror when they saw three bullet holes-two in her abdomen and the third almost in the center of her chest, a multitude of scrapes and fresh bruising.

"We need to do an X-ray," said Nightwing.

"Already on it," said Cyborg waving his left arm over Ravens entire body. The screen above Raven's head turned on with the x-ray image. Then, they saw the internal damage, two broken ribs with one dangerously close to puncturing the right lung. Her right arm was broken in three places, and there was a fracture on the back of her skull.

"She took quite a few hits. We're going to be here for awhile. First, we need to repair the ribs before they puncture the lung and remove the bullets while we have her open. After that, we will stitch up any holes that they made. Then, we'll set the bones back in place in the arm." said Dr. Mid-Nite in a monotone voice.

"Alright. Let's get started," replied Leslie.


	2. Chapter 2

Oh boy, it has been far too long. Computer upgrades are a bitch (New Graphics card blows out old motherboard which kills new Graphics card, fml). Re-watching all of Young Justice and Avatar: The Last Airbender does not help with anything. Neither does Christmas and New Year chaos at work. I'm sorry to any one who bothers to read this that I have taken so freaking long to do absolutely nothing. On the up side, NERF MODDING..!

Read and Review.

Holding on by a Thread

_5 Hours and 27 minutes later. . ._

"That's about all we can do for her. Now, we just wait." Leslie said removing her blood covered gloves.

"Since there is nothing more I can do here, I should get back to the JSA. We have a mission departure in," Dr Mid-Nite paused and looked at his watch "-two hours time. It was a pleasure to work with you, Leslie, albeit under unfortunate circumstances. It's nice to see you again, Cyborg. Please call me if her condition worsens. Oracle, teleport please." Dr. Mid-Nite said his goodbyes and was gone in a flash of light.

"Is there any transportation that doesn't rearrange my molecules into a million little pieces, Oracle?" Leslie asked the disembodied voice.

"I've already dispatched Robin in the Batwing to come and collect you. ETA is 15 minutes." replied Oracle.

"Thank you, dear. Now, Nightwing, it has been awhile since I last saw you. You've grown up into quite a handsome, young man as well." cooed Leslie looking as though she wanted to pinch his cheek in a grandmotherly way.

"Thanks. Uhh . . . would you like to meet the rest of the team?" Nightwing cleared his throat hiding his embarrassment.

"Of course, I would," Leslie stepped forward towards the nearest teammate.

"You've already met Cyborg. The patient as you know is Raven." he said with a wave towards Cyborg standing beside Ravens bed. He opened the door out to the main corridor to see the two remaining Titans who were asleep, "That's Beast Boy and Starfire. I think it's best we let them sleep. It's been a long night for everyone."

"There's one last thing that I should do before I leave. You boys need to step out while I conduct the procedure, please." she gave the young men a sad but determined look, "It'll only take 10 minutes at most. Is there a kit to use somewhere? "

Cyborg nodded and retrieved a sealed kit from the top shelf in the far corner of the room. "I always hoped never to need this, but I guess anything can happen in our line of work," he said solemnly handing the rape kit over to Leslie, "No one really says it, but we consider ourselves to be more a family than a team. When I see her like this . . . Both Raven and Star are like baby sisters to me."

"I understand," Leslie patted his arm reassuringly, "I promise to take great care with her."

Robin arrived while they waited for Leslie to finish the kit. Cyborg met him on the roof and completed a quick nonintrusive scan on the Batwing as it landed. When he returned to the infirmary with Robin, Leslie had finished. She chatted with Beast Boy and Starfire, who were now wide awake.

"Hey, Nightwing, long time no see. These must be the rest of the Titans." greeted Robin.

"We're missing one," replied Nightwing taking a quick glance into the infirmary, "Beast Boy and Starfire, this is Robin."

Starfire greeted the new arrival with a bone-crushing hug, "Greetings, young Robin, who is not Nightwing."

"Mmffm!" mumbled Robin into her chest.

"Star, he can't breathe," said Nightwing.

"Oh! My apologies, new friend Robin," gasped Starfire quickly released her grip on the young lad.

Robin staggered over to Nightwing and got a swift slap to the back of the head when he whispered "Best hug ever".

"Well, I need to head back to Gotham. The Park Row clinic isn't going to run itself," Leslie stated her farewell to the group, "It was very nice meeting you all despite the awful circumstances. Please keep me informed of Ravens recovery. Call me if there are any problems. Oracle has all my numbers if Im not mistaken."

"We better be off. Patrol starts in like and hour. Bye guys" said Robin heading towards the stairs.

"Goodbye, Titans. I sincerely hope that we meet under happier circumstances next time. Nightwing, walk me to the ship." she waved to the Titans. The remaining Titans entered the infirmary to sit with Raven after Nightwing and Leslie walked onto the lift. As they departed the lift and walked onto the roof in silence, Leslie turned to him with a stern look. Looking him straight in the eye, she ordered, "Richard, promise me you'll catch whoever did this to Raven."

"I promise. Like Cy said, she's our sister. Nobody does that to our family and gets away with it." he replied through gritted teeth.

"One last thing . . . the rape kit was negative, and there were no signs of sexual abuse," Leslie put his worst fears to rest.

"Thank god for that," he sighed as his shoulders slumped in relief, "I don't know what I would have done if. . . Thanks for everything, Leslie. You were a lifesaver today." Nightwing smiled at his own unintentional play-on-words.

Robin was already going through his pre-flight checks. Nightwing gave Leslie a hug before helping her into the ship's passenger seat. "And Richard, you really must visit more frequently!" With that the hatch closed and the ship took off doing a 180 before heading east. Nightwing took out his communicator as he watched the Batwing become a dot on the horizon. He clicked it on and changed frequency, "Hey Babs."

"Hey, Dick. How're you holding up?" she responded.

"I'm alright. Thanks for the help. I owe you." he sighed.

"I'm sure I can figure a way you can repay me," she teased before turning serious. "How is Raven?"

"She should pull through okay. Hopefully, her healing powers will kick in soon." he updated her and confessed. "When we found her lying there, I had this horrible flashback to when you. . ."

"I didn't walk away from the incident, but I'm doing well considering what happened. Raven is better off than I was. She comes with built in healing powers. I watched the feed from the infirmary camera. I'm sure that she just needs time to heal," she reassured him. "Do you have any idea who did this?"

"My first guess would be Slade, but the attack doesn't feel like his usual MO. We haven't seen him since the whole apocalypse and Trigon thing a few years back," he sighed. "It's not like Gotham here. Most of the bad guys aren't exactly hardened killers or psychopaths, although Doctor Light might be crazy enough to do something to Raven. She did kind of scare him shitless during their first encounter. He hasn't been the same since. Most of the criminals from the early days have either given up, moved on or are still in Belle Reve. Every now and again we'll get a newbie with a gimmick come along thinking they can take us. You know how it is."

"I can do some digging and check if there are any clues on satellite footage," she began to attack her keyboard with purpose.

"Babs, you've already done more than enough," Nightwing stated knowing that he was going to conduct his own thorough investigation.

"Dick, I can do this a helluva lot better than you or even Cyborg, I'm Oracle remember," she teased, again.

"Alright, if you insist," Dick smiled at the mild banter that they always had, "All the files I have on our rouges are on the Towers mainframe."

"Got 'em. Let me start on this. You need to be with the others. I'll call when I find any thing," she offered generously.

"Alright. Thanks, Babs," he said one more time.

"Anytime for you, short pants," she replied quickly before the line went dead. The former Boy Wonder heaved with one last sigh and headed downstairs to the infirmary with a quick stop in the kitchen. When Nightwing got back to the infirmary, he saw Beast Boy sitting on the chair next to the bed. He stroked Raven's hand with the utmost care. Starfire was curled up on the next bed watching Raven. Cyborg read through and updated the medical chart at the end of the bed.

"I brought up some leftovers and soda. It's been a long night." said Nightwing placing two pizza boxes, three Chinese takeout containers, and a bottle of soda on a nearby table.

"Thanks," Cyborg thanked him turning his head to look at Nightwing, "How did Raven get like this without us knowing she was in trouble?"

"I don't know, but I do know that the bastard who did this, is going to wish that he was never born when I get my hands on him," he threatened almost growling.

"Is she going be okay?" whispered Beast Boy with his eyes still intentionally locked onto Raven.

"She needs time to recover, but she's going to be fine. Eventually, her powers will kick in and start healing everything soon," replied Cyborg as he dug into a carton of noodles.

"Dr. Mid-Nite and Leslie did everything they could. It's up to her now." said Nightwing with blunt honesty.

"Who was the voice on the P.A?" asked Beast Boy looking to Nightwing for an answer.

"That was Oracle. She's the primary information broker for the JLA, JSA, the Outsiders, and pretty much every hero on Earth," he replied through a mouth full of pizza.

"If she's the almighty and powerful Oz, how come we've never heard of her?" Beast Boy inquired looking at Nightwing for a moment.

"In the years we've been the Titans we haven't had need of Oracle, what with my detective skills and Cyborgs way with computers. And let's just say, Batman wasn't the only one I left behind years ago." He paused momentarily thinking back to the early years as Robin, swinging across the Gotham skyline with Batman and Batgirl. He shook his head with a ghost of a smile "She also likes to keep under the radar, heads up her own team-_The_ _Birds of Prey_ with Black Canary and Huntress?" he explained, "I wouldn't be surprised if she was keeping an eye on us right now." Nightwing said with a smirk.

"Wait? How?" searched Cyborg already scanning the room for any bugs.

"Hacker," Nightwing answered.

"That's impossible. No one can hack the Tower. I wired it from foundation to the roof. It's all my design," Cyborg insisted that it wasn't possible.

"She's one of the smartest people I know, especially with computers," he gave Cyborg an apologetic look, "And, just out of curiosity, how do you know Dr. Mid-Nite?"

"Remember when I was called to help with an operation at the Justice Society Head Quarters about two years ago. It was for a hot redheaded librarian. Barbara Gordon I think her name was. She was infected with some sort of cybernetic virus from Brainiac. Being the world leader in Cybernetics, naturally they called me in to help. Superman was there, too. I've always wonderd how she's doing?" he said thoughtfully.

Nightwing grinned, eyes flicking to the camera "I bet she's doing great. In fact, I'm sure Oracle could get her number for you."

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"She's in cardiac arrest! Get the defibrillator!" yelled Cyborg, "Everyone back away from the bed."

"CLEAR!" shouted Cyborg as he placed the paddles on Raven's chest. Her body jerked up as the voltage flowed through her.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"Increase the voltage!" yelled Cyborg, "CLEAR!"

Again, her body jerked upwards with the voltage. A second later, her body fell limp on the bed.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"CLEAR . . . CLEAR . . . CLEAR!" yelled Cyborg each time he stuck her body with the paddles. Tears rolled down his cheek every time her body hit the sheets.

"Stop. It's too late. She's gone." insisted Nightwing as he stopped Cyborg from giving her another shock. He pulled the paddles from his hands and turned off the defibrillator. Tears also ran down his face.

"NO! She's not dead. She can't be dead." pleaded Beast Boy. Nightwing restrained him. Starfire crumpled to the floor sobbing heavily into her hands. Then the power flickerd and went out.

"What's going on?" said Cyborg angered that some idiot was attacking in their time of grief.

Then, there was a bright flash. An eerie blue light shone from Raven. Her body rose up from the bed. The bed sheet slipped off revealing Raven in a medical gown. Her head, arms, and legs hung limply at her sides.

"Raven," whispered Beast Boy.

Raven started to move so that it looked as if she was standing up in the air. Then, the blue light pulsated from her body. Just as quickly as it had started, it stopped. The electricity suddenly came back on. Raven remained suspended in the air. Suddenly, her eyes opened. Instead of her usual violet eyes, they were black bottomless pits.

Without warning, Raven fell slamming into the bed. She stayed in motion and rolled of on to the floor. She lay there tangled up in a mess of medical tubes and wires.

"Raven!" Exclaimed the four Titans in unison as they all gathered around her. Gently, they rolled her over on to her back. Her indigo eyes flickered open and tried to focus at the faces swimming in and out of her vision. Then, her eyes rolled upwards into the back of her head. She was unconscious, again.

~wolfenstien


End file.
